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About Campward Bound

Welcome to Campward Bound. I created Campwardbound for you and other family campers on a budget. I will show you ways to save money on camping fees, choose better camping equipment, and how to plan your next camping trip. I will show you step by step everything that you need to know about camping from my 50 plus years of camping experience.

I firmly believe that you can have an enjoyable family camping experience even if you have never camped before. This site is for both the experienced camper as well as the first time camper.

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I am a full time husband to my wonderful wife Idylline and father to my two boys, Zachary and Josiah. Our favorite past time is family camping in our white stealth camping van. We seek out new adventures all through out the year. Our aim is to camp on the cheap. We avoid costly campgrounds and over crowded rv parks. If there is a remote road leading to a pristine lake or river, we will find it.

Camping for us is spending quality time together as a family. I try to make it as easy as possible for everyone. We eat like royalty because we spend so little on campsites. You cannot beat free camping.

I started tent camping with my parents back in the early 60’s and to tell you the truth, camping as a child was such a hassle because we brought along so much unnecessary stuff to make our trip more “enjoyable”. To make our family camping trips even more enjoyable, my father bought us a travel trailer which allowed us to bring even more junk. We crammed the trailer full of bicycles, chairs, and other creatures comforts.

Don’t get me wrong, we love being comfortable. We just don’t like clutter. When we want to be pampered and enjoy civilization, we go out for dinner, hang out at ritzy lodge for the day, drop in at Walmart.

I am a minimalist and a practical camper by nature. Most of our equipment is old and well used. I drive a 16 year old white Ford van that I bought for $1000 and it runs like a champ .Everything we bring along usually has multiple purposes. Wash basins become storage bins during the day. The two coolers double as coffee cup and drink holders while driving and as a chairs and table when we eat.

The van is equipped with 2 large folding platform beds that it our tent on wheels. We can pull into any flat spot and sleep for the night. We nick named it The Ice Box because it stay so cool inside.

I have been camping since I was in diapers. I got hooked on tent camping while on a church camping in Grand Teton National Park when I was 15 years old. I never knew that camping could be so much fun. Three years later, I was hitch hiking all over the western United States in search of more exciting camping. When I graduated from high school, I loaded a tent and some gear on my bicycle and headed west for 3 months with some buddies for the trip of a life time. We bicycle from Minnesota to Glacier National Park and then down to the Grand Canyon. We hit every national park in between such as Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

After graduation from college, I packed everything up again on my bicycle and traveled across the United States, Canada, and Mexico for six months. I rarely set up a tent unless I knew that it was going to rain. If it rained on me in the middle of the night, I would scramble for some cover and wait the rain out.

I am here to share my experiences and help you with camping. My expertise now is family camping which I hope I can share with you.